Mk2 1000

from the looks of that place, :ohmy:


they "get it" ,looks like you are in good hands.

leon

Hi Guys ,

So I'm back ...its been a couple of years ! I built an addition on our house so shelved the projects for a while . The nice thing about these bikes is that there already obsolete ,so no problem ! I got the frame braced and a new swing arm built before I parked it .

Spent Sunday making a bracket for the rear master cylinder , just need the brake line .will get it tigged once I figure out the battery box mounts .
Took a sicky today ( my boss is awesome !! ) and made the horn and coil brackets . Will get some nylon standoffs spun up for the coils for a bit of shock absorption. I got the early Gixxer forks roughed in but would like to use a set of 1994 CBR 600 F2 forks and calipers , they are adjustable for preload and compression and the right length . Anyone have a set ?
It would save having to make a set of calipers adapters too .

welcome back sir!

keep us posted,

leon

Hey guys ,

Went out to shop last night and cranked the drum & bass and got cracking with the tabs and bracket removal , looks like I have the Midas touch with all the braze dust laying around ... Wishing it was real !! I was originally planning to use a Shorai battery in the tail but had no luck with them on the racebike ... I just sourced a Harley battery which has the heavy duty cranking amps but is a lower profile and will help reduce the size of the battery box . I plan to weld an extension to the front of the box and run the igniter ,fuse block and reg/rect and make it all look pretty with inboard mounts to maintain the clean frame lines . Time to put the kids to bed and get a grip out there tonight !

So I was looking at the various tanks on the bike , i have the stock Mk 2 and a CSR tank , I like the boxy lines of the stock tank but its way too wide and high at the top of the tunnel and looks daft .I cut a bunch of the tunnel out of the CSR tank which looked better but limits the range due to the wide double frame rails and also is too wide at the neck . I dont have a Rickman tank ,which would work but its fibreglass and I'm not so keen on the bulge at the back so I made this buck from 2" foam and a hot glue gun . I shaped it with a 60 grit pad on a palm sander , I should have used 3M spray mount to glue it up as there are ugly seams at the knee cutouts ,no biggie ! I'm going to shape the back end in a bit more ,smooth it up by hand and then give it to Denis who will make the tank in aluminium .. I have blue dust in places I didn't realize I had places ! I've ordered the Rickman tail and glass inner fender from Airtech ,should be here in a couple of weeks .Got the rest of the old brackets cleaned off the frame , I need to pull it all apart and remove the centre stand lugs next . Still looking for a deal on a front end , skinted myself out though buying a new bike ! There's a Monster in the stable !

I was admiring this tank from this Harley cafe and using it for inspiration !

Rickman tank

I was thinking that the tank was a bit Kim Kardasian .... wide in the rear end ! Opinions please on whether to slim the back of it to the black lines?

" Crickets " ... I cant believe you guys don't have opinions !!! Lol

I went for it anyway ... I think its better , rounded the front section some more today and sculpted the back , its more like the racing tank . took the Duke up the road this afternoon for the maiden voyage ,Love it ....the thing is a Torque monster . Spins up the tyre easy with all the road salt and sand and snot! Spring is just around the corner .

Its hard to tell what that looks like in real life. photos just don't do it justice. I personally quite liked the MKII tank and tail on there. You hardly ever see any MKIIs and none on a Rickman. Since your having a tank custom made why not have them replicate the MKII tank, but modified to fit your frame better?

I do think your tank looks better with the rear slimmed down though. I like the profile looking towards the front a lot, but I think since the tank sits on top of the frame at the rear and then moves below the frame at the front it looks a bit strange. Perhaps if you kept the panel where the knee dent is above the frame rail, then transitioned quickly at the towards the front that might look a bit better, and also show off more of the frame. I also personally like it when the front of the tank matches the angle of the steering head, but to each their own. here is a triton that has the knee dent transition I was talking about.

Thanks for your input Doc ,
its a work in progress for sure ... I cut out the indents to clear the top triple on full lock and that ruined the look at the front for me , I had experimented in pen with following the slope of the fork but it messed up the teardrop and location of the filler ,but I agree that the overall look would be lifted with more material taken out in front of the knee cut outs ... Back to shop ... More pics as it progresses

my complaint with rickmans is that the tank always seems to look like a loaf bread.
so while i appreciate your re-imagination of it, it still seems a lil bloated.
maybe a lil less curve and more edge maybe :whistle: .

this one is not bad,

but still not 100% captivating.

sorry to be of no more help.

leon

p.s. i would love to own a monster.bigger is better but i would settle for the lil one. :evil: